The Extras
One of the favorite books I’m currently reading is “The Old Man and The Boy” by Robert Ruark. It’s one of those books that I take my time in reading as it’s a fun journey of a young boy living and learning from his grandfather in rural North Carolina. A little bit a time makes the journey last. I read the below section this morning:
The “extras” he talks about. Not “excess” but “extras.” A back-up, options, a spare. Before you take on a task, be sure you have a plan and a back-up plan. We’ve talked a lot about how we thought things were going to go this year. We had a plan. It’s a funny thing about plans, while sometimes they go swimmingly, most often it’s a derivative of what we thought that actually happens. And sometimes, like these days, it’s nowhere close!!
That’s the power of “extras.” We are right now planning each day, one day at a time. Once we have that path determined, we ask ourselves, what’s plan B? You can never have enough “extras.”
The Old Man offered the Boy, and us, some pretty sound wisdom. In other reading this morning, I read from 2 Timothy 3:14 - “You must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.”
The Boy in this book trusted the teaching of The Old Man and soaked up lesson after lesson. I think back on the countless experiences that I hold true today from my Grandparents, parents, teachers (David Hitov from Tantasqua Regional High School in particular), Mr. Hardwick, and many others whom I’ve trusted. Things that when I reflect on my behaviors and thought patterns, I can directly attribute to someone else who taught me or showed me.
Mr. Hitov taught me to do the tough work first. I wasn’t an easy student to get through to, but he cared enough about me to “quarantine” me every day after school for the better part of a year and force me to turn in my homework BEFORE I hit the field or gym for practice. I hated that at first, but it taught me to find time in the day to quickly take care of my responsibilities first, which freed me up to do the things I WANTED to do.
What is a lesson you learned from an Old Man or Woman in your past?
College Planner, Class 101 Franklin
4 年A late mentor of mine taught me that every financial adviser will tell you to have a diversified portfolio (to which virtually all people will agree), and yet only a few people understand that they need to apply the same principle to their career: why in the world would anyone only have one source of income? Everyone should have at least one “extra” income stream.